diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index dba1e0844b..3946b76f02 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ MANAGEMENT_COMMAND ?= awx-manage
 IMAGE_REPOSITORY_AUTH ?=
 IMAGE_REPOSITORY_BASE ?= https://gcr.io
 VERSION := $(shell cat VERSION)
+PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY ?= openssl
 
 # NOTE: This defaults the container image version to the branch that's active
 COMPOSE_TAG ?= $(GIT_BRANCH)
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ CELERY_SCHEDULE_FILE ?= /var/lib/awx/beat.db
 DEV_DOCKER_TAG_BASE ?= gcr.io/ansible-tower-engineering
 # Python packages to install only from source (not from binary wheels)
 # Comma separated list
-SRC_ONLY_PKGS ?= cffi,pycparser,psycopg2,twilio
+SRC_ONLY_PKGS ?= cffi,pycparser,psycopg2,twilio,pycurl
 # These should be upgraded in the AWX and Ansible venv before attempting
 # to install the actual requirements
 VENV_BOOTSTRAP ?= pip==19.3.1 setuptools==41.6.0
@@ -173,9 +174,9 @@ virtualenv_awx:
 # --ignore-install flag is not used because *.txt files should specify exact versions
 requirements_ansible: virtualenv_ansible
 	if [[ "$(PIP_OPTIONS)" == *"--no-index"* ]]; then \
-	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_local.txt | $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip install $(PIP_OPTIONS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
+	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_local.txt | PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY=$(PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY) $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip install $(PIP_OPTIONS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
 	else \
-	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_git.txt | $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip install $(PIP_OPTIONS) --no-binary $(SRC_ONLY_PKGS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
+	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_git.txt | PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY=$(PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY) $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip install $(PIP_OPTIONS) --no-binary $(SRC_ONLY_PKGS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
 	fi
 	$(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip uninstall --yes -r requirements/requirements_ansible_uninstall.txt
 	# Same effect as using --system-site-packages flag on venv creation
@@ -183,9 +184,9 @@ requirements_ansible: virtualenv_ansible
 
 requirements_ansible_py3: virtualenv_ansible_py3
 	if [[ "$(PIP_OPTIONS)" == *"--no-index"* ]]; then \
-	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_local.txt | $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip3 install $(PIP_OPTIONS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
+	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_local.txt | PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY=$(PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY) $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip3 install $(PIP_OPTIONS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
 	else \
-	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_git.txt | $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip3 install $(PIP_OPTIONS) --no-binary $(SRC_ONLY_PKGS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
+	    cat requirements/requirements_ansible.txt requirements/requirements_ansible_git.txt | PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY=$(PYCURL_SSL_LIBRARY) $(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip3 install $(PIP_OPTIONS) --no-binary $(SRC_ONLY_PKGS) -r /dev/stdin ; \
 	fi
 	$(VENV_BASE)/ansible/bin/pip3 uninstall --yes -r requirements/requirements_ansible_uninstall.txt
 	# Same effect as using --system-site-packages flag on venv creation
diff --git a/requirements/requirements_ansible_uninstall.txt b/requirements/requirements_ansible_uninstall.txt
index 53a2b2ee08..56cbaa5f19 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements_ansible_uninstall.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements_ansible_uninstall.txt
@@ -1,2 +1 @@
-pycurl  # requires system package version
 rsa	# stop adding new crypto libs